Growing Pains Growing Pleasures
by Aust Sakura Kyzor
Summary: Even when the tale is over, the story will go on forever. A collection of brief glimpses into the childhood of children who for once got the chance to BE children. Post-Awakening. Will feature Aust and Sakura..
1. Go Rescue Your Own Prince (Sakura)

**A rare before-fic AN!**

**I was actually sitting on this one for a while, not sure what do with it. I was kinda small for my liking, but I couldn't find any way to improve or add to it. So, being perfect in my eyes, I'm just gonna publish it. **

**That's not the whole story though. I seem to be better at short prose, which is fine, but I wouldn't be satisfied with simply publishing one story and calling it complete. So here's another collection that will feature Aust or Sakura raising their children. Obviously post-game, because raising 17 year olds would probably be awkward…**

**Disclaimer: "Blah Blah Blah, not mine. Nintendo, Intelligent Systems. Protected under international copyright fair use clause."**

* * *

**Rescue Your Own Prince**

"Mom?"

Sakura mentally cringed. It wasn't often Lucina referred to her as 'mom'. Usually it meant she was about to ask a difficult question.

Sakura steeled herself for what would no-doubt be a long day. "Yes, hun? What is it?"

"How do I get a husband?"

The question threw her off. Lucina was curious about boys now? Wasn't she just taking her first steps yesterday? It's too soon, darn it, stop growing up.

Now feeling about one hundred years older, she finally stuttered a response. "W-what got you so interested in a husband all of a sudden?"

"Well… The other day I was talking to Inigo" Sakura's ears perked at the legendary philanderer's name, "and he was saying that soon I'll have to wait for a Prince Charming to 'sweep me off my feet', but I don't have a Prince Charming, so I need to get one!"

Sakura coughed, "…Inigo said this?"

"You sound surprised."

"Not as surprised as I want to be." Sakura sighed deeply, "and he was doing so well too."

"Huh?"

"Never mind, I'll tell you when you're older." She had almost forgotten that she wasn't talking to her daughter's future counterpart. It was extremely confusing at times. Luckily, because she and Chrom met Morgan before he was born, the newborn was christened with a different name. In Olivia's case, the future Inigo changed his name to Antonio and went on an adventure with the future Lucina. Thus it meant that _this_ Lucina was talking to the new Inigo. It also meant that Olivia failed to prevent him from being a philanderer like the future version. Sakura suddenly and inexplicably had a headache. This is why she never brought up the future children to her daughter.

"Well then," she finally said, "aren't you still a bit young for that?"

"Mom, I'm fifteen."

'FIFTEEN? Weren't you seven yesterday?' Sakura mentally aged another hundred years and sighed again, twirling a braid of her purple hair in her finger. "Yeah… I guess this conversation was bound to happen… Okay love, have a seat."

Lucina eagerly sat down and stared at her mother expectantly. "So? How do I get my prince to come?"

"Well… first off, you're doing it wrong."

"Huh? What do you mean, mother?"

"You're expecting to wait for your prince. Don't do that. You'll sit around forever if you wait for a boy to stop staring at "the pretty ones" and look at a young woman as beautiful as you." She ruffled her giggling daughter's blue hair before continuing.

"I mean, look at your poor Aunt Cordelia or Sumia. When I first met those two, they were both waiting for Chrom to stop being a dolt and sweep them off their feet. Obviously that never happened though. Apparently Chrom has a thing for having rocks thrown at him." Sakura chuckled at the nostalgic memory she brought up. Chrom had insulted her, albeit unintentionally, by stammering over his words and stating that his future wife wasn't very lady-like. Sakura threw a rock at him in response.

"So I should throw rocks at the boy I like?" Lucina looked thoughtful, and she _had_ been working on her throw lately…

"Please don't do that," Sakura didn't want to explain to Lissa why there was a sudden surge of boys with large welts on their head. "Save that for when the boy is being an idiot… er… a bigger idiot than usual."

"oh… okay"

"A-anyways, my point being if you wait, you'll never find your prince. So don't wait for Prince Charming. Go out and find him. Stupid idiot's probably stuck in a tree somewhere anyway."

"That… makes a frightening amount of sense, actually…"

"It kinda does. Must be something in the air that makes boys become complete idiots."

"They seem like too much trouble. Can I sweep a princess off her feet instead?"

"If you want, go right ahead. Just don't sweep Libra. Poor guy gets enough hassle from the children calling him "mom" all the time." Sakura stood up from her chair, "okay love, I've got work to do, and you've got practice. Don't keep your father waiting."

"Okay mother." Lucina stood and ran to the barracks.

Later Sakura walked along the castle grounds, enjoying the beautiful day, when she suddenly heard a crash as if something large suddenly cried out, and shattered into thousands of pieces. Sakura's worries escalated when she heard her daughter call out to her.

"Moooooooooooom! Dad broke the barracks' wall again!"

Sakura sighed, "this, my dear, is why you have to go rescue the prince yourself, like I did." She gestured towards Chrom, who was standing in the rubble of another victimized wall. "Behold my klutz of a prince, Lucina. Watch as he spazzes into the sunset... Breaking it in half…" She couldn't help but laugh.

* * *

**Another AN:**

**Forgot to mention. This will obviously feature Aust and Sakura, but it's very unlikely I'll include Ky in this. For one thing, Ky is meant to romance everybody, so that'd be weird. For another, I have no idea how Ky would even ACT as a parent, so there's that.**

**If I'm still working on this in ten years, I'll maybe do one based on actual experience if I'm a parent by then. Doubtful I will be, but I just got angry thinking about the circumstances behind my break-up so I'm a _little_ irrational right now.**

**Aust AWAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY!**


	2. How I Met Your Father (Aust)

How I Met Your Father

Aust surveyed the battlefield. It was going well, considering the circumstances that started it. 'Almost too well,' he thought, 'why haven't there been reinforcements from the rear? Have I overestimated their strategy?'

Almost inevitably, Aust heard the unmistakable sound of beating wings from the rear. "Figures… Panne! Sneaky knight guy! To me! Incoming reinforcements!"

"I'm not sneaky…" Kellam whined, though only Panne was listening.

The three prepared to protect Emmeryn from the incoming forces, though they were a bit confused when the reinforcements turned out to be a lone Pegasus rider, flying Ylisse's colours. What struck Aust, however, was her brilliant red hair. This woman carried herself as the epitome of calm, despite the fact that she very obviously wasn't.

"No! Plegians here as well?!" The rider cried out, "Prince Chrom! Captain Phila! Beware! Enemy reinforcements to the rear!"

"Is that... Gods, Cordelia?!" Phila's face bore an expression normally reserved for the gallows. Whoever this woman was, her presence meant bad news.

"Cordelia?" Aust asked, wondering if that was this woman's name.

"She's one of my knights." She responded, "She's young, but she's quite gifted, and with her sisters they formed our most elite flyer troop. I had them stationed on the Plegian border, so why...?" Phila's expression grew darker still. Were it not for the distracting battle, Aust would've paused to wonder how that was even possible. "Oh gods! Could it mean...?"

Aust knew exactly what it meant, but also knew that was a distraction they didn't need right now. "Focus, captain!" he snapped, "we have to focus on the immediate right now! As long as Emmeryn lives, Ylisse is victorious!"

Life returned to Phila's eyes, and she quickly grabbed Emmeryn and flew out of harm's way.

"Okay, Panne, you and Ghost Boy guard here as best you can. I'm going to grab Ricken and I'll back as soon as I can." The two… well, Panne nodded, and he assumed Kellam did as well, "Cordelia, you can obviously fly, so take the air – Sumia and Frederick can only do so much on their own." She quickly saluted and flew up without question.

"Aust," he said quietly to himself, "you get stare at Cordelia's butt." He mentally chuckled and set off towards the thick of the battle, where Ricken and Maribelle were fending off a number of wyvern riders further ahead.

Unfortunately for Aust's perversion, he neglected to watch where he was going, and walked off the cliff. The sudden, surprisingly yelp went mostly unnoticed but the flyers beyond it were momentarily distracted by the seemingly random event.

"Did… Did Aust just walk off a cliff?" Sumia asked, surprised by how surreal the question felt.

"He did…" Frederick responded, "I knew he was afraid of dragons, but to walk off a cliff?"

The two were fortunate that the Plegian riders were just as distracted by the events, their fight momentarily forgotten.

"Oh hell," Cordelia explicated aloud, and swooping down, she nabbed the would-be pervert out of the air, setting him behind her as she flew back up, Aust clinging for dear life to her waist.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry," Aust repeated, his eyes shut tight, and his grip ever tightening.

"You can apologize for cutting circulation to my legs later." She curtly cut him off, "which one is Ricken? I can't distinguish his hat from Miriel's…"

"He's with Maribelle, if that helps."

"It does, actually." She flew towards the girl with unmistakable hair. Taking out a wyvern they didn't notice behind them, and hovered above them.

"Ricken! How's your elwind tome?" Aust shouted, still clinging to Cordelia, still out of fear beyond anything else.

"It's wearing out, but I bet I could still do some massive damage," the young mage responded.

"Here, catch!" Aust said, pulling a fresh wind tome from his pockets and lobbing it at him. "I want you two to rush back towards the rear and join Panne and Kellam. We've got reinforcements coming from behind." Ricken snickered; the other three rolled their eyes.

As Maribelle galloped off with Ricken, Cordelia landed, safe for the moment. "You can let go now. I'm not flying anymore."

"Huh? What?" Aust blinked, realizing that he still held tightly to his rescuer. "Oh, s-sorry." He stuttered, finally letting go of her.

"I have to ask: if you're so afraid of heights, why would you place yourself so near a cliff? Not very tactical of you, Mr Tactician," she said with a wry smile.

"What? I'm not afraid of heights. Falling maybe, but who isn't?"

"So your death grip around me?"

"I'd just fallen off a cliff?"

"So… Your explanation for falling from said cliff?"

"I… er… was distracted," he admitted, a mild blush forming.

"Distracted by…?" Cordelia had a feeling she knew, but decided to tease Aust about it anyway.

"S-something…"

"Something?"

"It was cute, and I wanted to stare at it!" he stammered, while Cordelia giggled.

"You were staring at me, weren't you?" She smiled when Aust's deepening blush confirmed her accusation. "Don't worry about it," she giggled while ruffling his hair, "happens to the best of you."

She couldn't help but laugh at Aust squirming under her hand. Finally letting him go, she motioned towards her Pegasus. "Come on, we've still got work to do." Aust nodded, climbing up behind her, tome in hand.

"Aust?" she said shortly after taking off, "I thought you were fine with heights?"

"I am."

"So why are you clinging to me in fear?" Aust mumbled something incoherent. "What was that?"

"Wyverns" he meekly said, still very quiet.

"Wyverns?"

"I'm scared of wyverns." He admitted, holding tighter.

Cordelia sighed, and switched her lance out for a javelin. "You're lucky you're cute."

* * *

"And that, my dears, is how I met your father." A much older Cordelia concluded to her young twins; Morgan and Severa.

"…Seriously?" Morgan finally asked; her image of perfection in Aust shattered.

"I'm afraid so" Cordelia responded.

"Mom… dad's a dork."

"I know," she sighed, "why do you think I married him?"

* * *

**AUTHOR'S NOTE: Bait and switch'd! You thought this was gonna be a chapter full of drama, but it was secretly comedy all along!**

**That, and a not-so-subtle jab at How I Met Your Mother, but at least here the ending is satisfying.**

**Anyway – I always sorta had the idea that when Aust first met Cordelia, he was so awestruck by how beautiful she was, that he walked off a cliff because he was so distracted. Later, I brought it up with Michiru Shiroku, and we actually came up with silly responses to Severa as if she was asking Cordy how her parents fell in love.** **I have all of them, and I'll post the entire skype conversation to my profile, but I wanted to give Aust and Cordelia a proper story, especially since I gave up on Outrealm Misadventures. Yeah, is dead and buried. I couldn't do anything with it.  
**

**I'm enjoying this whole "updating semi-frequently" thing. I'm going to try at it as long as I can, because the outlet is really helping my psyche out. Right now I'm working on fluff for Olivia/Henry post-game, and then I need to play some more Awakening, so it could be a bit before I have anything, since I've become a little jaded with it at the moment. It happens.**

**Until next time then,**

**Aust AWAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY!**


	3. Salted Ice Cream (Sakura)

Chrom hurried along the corridor. He had taken too long, and death was sure to await him if he didn't speed up. Yet he couldn't go any faster, lest he drop his important cargo. Panting and out of breath, he pressed on towards the courtyard where Sakura awaited his return.

Seeing the daylight from outside, Chrom couldn't help but think of it as the proverbial light at the end of the dark tunnel. A grim smile formed on his lips as he stepped outside and rushed towards the nearby tree where Future Lucina saved his life years ago.

Below the tree, his extremely pregnant wife sat at the base of the tree on a pile of cushions, trying very hard to limit her movement. Pregnancy was rarely a pleasant experience, and Sakura knew that better than most women of the Shepherds, having given birth once before, but this time felt a lot worse, and every time there was a kick, she swore there were _two_ sets of legs.

Chrom cautiously, worshipfully approached his wife, the bowl of ice cream held out in front of him. Sakura pathetically flailed her arms in front of her until she felt the cold bowl in her hands.

"Did you remember the salt this time?" she growled at her terrified husband. She didn't want to throw another bowl at him.

"I even brought some extra in case I didn't add enough." Chrom had taken out the small bag, but found his efforts were unnecessary, as Sakura had already devoured the bowl's contents, and a smile was on her face. Chrom sighed in relief. He would live another day. He hoped.

Unfortunately for Chrom, Sakura had heard the sigh, and glared at him. "Oh come on. As if I'd kill you for forgetting exactly what I asked. I didn't the last thousand times, after all." She smirked. She may have lost her mobility, but her mind was still sharp.

"That said, anything else you want, dear? More ice cream, but with pickles? Bear meat with strawberry preserve? Frederick's head on a silver platter?" Chrom let off a big grin. After all they've been through; Sakura's sarcasm had rubbed off on him, which served to make a lot of playful banter between the two.

"You're lucky I can't move." Sakura glared, but her lopsided grin betrayed her true feelings. She gestured her husband to sit beside her. "C'mere. Cuddle time." Chrom settled in beside his wife, and wrapped his arms around her, resting over the bump where her womb had all but taken over her body. Sakura relaxed into his embrace and the two sat quietly in the shade of their tree.

They were both tired, and they both knew that sleep would not come for a long time, especially since they didn't have an excuse to wet-nurse the kid this time. But for now, it was peaceful enough.

* * *

**Oh. My. GOD. Getting this written out kicked so much of my ass.**

**I have plenty of ass to go around, but my ass is still limited in quantity. And now like 98% of it has been kicked.**

**It's partially my fault – I've wanted to work mostly on my secret crossover project, but I kinda stopped obsessively playing both games involved… Eheheh…**

**Yeah, no, whenever I'm in a writing mood, it's usually because I've been playing the involved game obsessively – it's how most of my fics came about – and it's also where the crossover idea came from.**

**Except now I've been playing Mass Effect again. A lot. Probably too much.**

**And as much as I could try, I doubt an FE/Mass Effect crossover would work too well.**

**So… in between bouts of Commander Aust/Sakura Shepard kicking everyone's ass all the time, I'll be trying (key word TRYING) to bang out at least a few drabbles. No promises.**

**That's all I have for now.**

**Aust AWAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY!**


	4. You Suck at Baby Names (Aust)

It had been one year since Aust had struck the final blow against Grima and disappeared, ending the cruel cycle of death and awakening. In the following months the Shepherds would search restlessly, their travels spanning as far as they could reach in hopes of finding even a small clue.

Today, on a whim Chrom and Lissa decided to search the field they originally found Aust in nearly five years ago. With Frederick in tow, they ventured from Southtown into the fateful field… Where Lissa promptly tripped over Aust.

"Huh…" thought Chrom, "that was easy. I wonder how long he's been here _this_ time?"

"He's just as unconscious as last time too… Chrom, we have to do something."

"What would you have me do?"

Meanwhile, Aust, now aware of his surroundings had overheard part of the conversation.

'Oh no… must I relive THIS life too? Please, Naga, if you have any mercy in your soul, don't punish me like this...' He slowly opened his eyes.

"Looks like he's waking up…"

"Hey there!"

"There are better places than the ground to take a nap you know.." Chrom reached down, and Aust took the offered hand. Immediately he noticed the Brand was no longer on his hand.

'No… this is either redemption… or a fate worse than death...'

"It's over now. Welcome home."

Overflowing with emotion, Aust wrapped his arms around his friend and brother.

"I'm… Glad to see you… too…" Chrom managed to gasp out, "please let go… I need that air… to live…"

Releasing him, Aust looked around to get his bearings. His eyes met Frederick, standing beside his wife, Sumia. Lissa and Henry were there too, along with their infant child. Aust realized that none of his family were there, and turned to Chrom.

"I'm guessing Morgan and Severa were searching elsewhere?"

"They're both in Valm, doing just that."

"And Cordelia?"

"She was pregnant when you 'died', where do you think she is?"

Aust paled. "How long was I gone? PLEASE tell me she's still pregnant."

"About a year now," Aust went even paler, "your… I guess third daughter was born healthy, so you don't have to worry-"

"What did she name her?" Aust interrupted.

"...excuse me?"

"Chrom, this is very serious. What. Did. Cordelia. Name. Her?" The expression on Aust's face told him that he was deadly serious.

* * *

Cordelia was sitting in her chair, nursing her infant daughter when she heard the commotion from beyond the castle. Deciding that her child was more important, she continued to relax, absentmindedly humming a song she heard somewhere.

She heard the commotion drawing nearer, entering the castle proper. 'Must be some important and unexpected guest,' she thought, 'or perhaps Cherche is visiting,' she smiled. It felt like it had been a lifetime since she could smile to herself, when it had only been a year since the light of her life had vanished. She briefly wondered if Chrom had any news from the search. She wished she could've joined them, but their child had to take priority.

Her thoughts were interrupted when she realized that the noise had come to her door. She stood, placing the child in her cradle, and after readjusting she went to the door.

The door opened to nobody in sight. Expecting Ricken, or somebody just as short, she looked down and saw a ghost.

Standing before her, looking just as he did when he vanished was Aust. They stood, staring for a good few minutes, oblivious to the world around them, until Aust finally broke the silence.

"Um…. hi?"

The spell broken, she grabbed her husband, looking him into a deep, passionate embrace.

Finally settling down the lovers laughed, cried, and hugged, until Aust finally remembered something that had been on his mind since waking up. He saw the cradle, and moved towards it, looking upon his daughter for the very first time.

Pure joy and love emanated from his face, but when he faced Cordelia, his face was a look of concern.

"...Benigna?"

"I panicked, okay? I wanted her to be nicer than Severa and thought the name created the personality!"

Aust sighed and chuckled. He missed this. He wasn't aware of his time gone, but he still missed it.

It was good to be home. He was still going to have the name changed though.

* * *

"_She gave me money to buy condoms, and instead I bought a book of baby names. That's life. That's love. That's fiscally irresponsible.__"_\- Jarod Kintz

**So… I had a completely different idea for this drabble. Something something, Morgan and Robin living as long as the Manaketes. But that idea escaped me, somewhere around when I remembered that this is about Aust and/or Sakura raising their children, not about drama.**

**So maybe that'll be a future fic. I dunno. It'll probably feature Robin alone, likely romancing Tiki, Nowi, or Nah. Haven't really thought the whole thing out yet, to be honest. The basic premise is the three of them meeting together at Grima's remains, nearly 100 years after Robin 'died' there, and then Robin returns, and one of the three of them heals his broken heart.**

**So… if you think that's a neat idea to work from, lemme know plox.**

**As for this drabble… I just thought of Cordy, in her pregnant, depressed, and heartbroken mind, decided that Severa is mean because of her name (her name means 'severe' therefore her name caused her personality), so she named her child Benigna, because that means 'nice'. It's something that an otherwise rational person would think of if they weren't exactly in the best mood and state-of-mind. Don't worry though - Aust does get her name changed - he names her after Lyn.**

**Anyway, that's all I've got for now.**

**Aust AWAAAAAAAAAAAY**


End file.
